Monthly Archives: December 2014

One of the great things about staying here at Gold Canyon Resort for two months is that we’ve developed friendships that have gone past the superficial level.

We’ve exchanged stories and eventually confided in one another.

The surprising thing is finding out that others, not all but most, are as unsure of what to do as we are.

Harry and Marlene are in their 80’s and they are trying to decide if it’s time to sell their 2500 square foot home that’s on the shores of Lake Almanor in northern California and move closer to their children.

Mike and Debbie are at odds. Debbie thinks it might be time to sell their home in Ohio while Mike wants to keep it. She’s ready to try RV living full time; he’s not so sure.

Wally and Lea are also trying to decide if they should sell one of their two homes. Maybe they will upgrade their Arizona park model to an actual home because they spend most of their time here and more space would be nice.

(Park models are about 400 square feet (14′ by 35′), and most have an ‘Arizona Room’ added on that is either additional living space or a covered patio. In Texas they are called ‘Texas Rooms’.)

The good news for us is that hearing everyone else’s dilemmas has helped us realize that we’re not alone.

We are struggling with deciding how and when to transition back to home ownership. We ping and pong ideas back and forth continuously.

Alas, these pictures don’t do the scene justice. The blue in the sky was almost smurf turf blue in intensity. And the orange was much brighter. Maybe it’s a foreshadowing of Boise State University winning the Fiesta Bowl later this week. Go Broncos! 🙂

I wondered where the warning vs delight saying came from. According to Wikipedia,

In the Bible at Matthew 16:2-3, Jesus is quoted as saying:

When it is evening, you say, “It will be fair weather; for the sky is red.”
And in the morning, “It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.”

With the intense colors we saw last night, Phoenix sailors must be super delighted.

Fountain Hills was a cattle ranch prior to being established in 1970 as a master planned community. The community was designed by Charles Wood, Jr. who designed Disneyland.

Fountain Hills is very beautiful. It is surrounded by mountains and lots of green desert terrain. There are a half dozen golf courses in the area all of which were getting lots of play even thought it was Christmas Day!

The centerpiece of Fountain Hills is its beautiful fountain; one of the world’s tallest man-made fountains. It serves as a focal point for the community and attracts thousands of visitors each year.

The fountain, driven by three 600 horsepower turbine pumps, sprays water at a rate of 7,000 gallons per minute though an 18-inch nozzle. With all three pumps and under ideal conditions, the fountain reaches 560 feet in height, though in normal operation only two of the pumps are used, with a fountain height of around 300 feet. When built, it was the world’s tallest fountain and held that record for over a decade. (My guess is someone from Las Vegas came and took a look and said, “Heck, we can go higher than that!”)

There are multiple pieces of artwork throughout the park surrounding the lake and the fountain.

There is a wonderful section honoring veterans and the USS Arizona.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer ordered that flags at all state office buildings be lowered to half-staff until sunset December 25, 2014, in honor of United States Army Specialist Wyatt J. Martin, 22, of Mesa, Arizona.

I’m always excited when I see twins, and these little guys were so incredibly cute in their Christmas gear. Mom tried to get them to stay still for two minutes so I could take a better picture, but there was way too much for them to see at the park.

The lake water and fountain water had a bit of a green tinge to it. Several signs proclaimed that the water in the lake and used to water the grass is reclaimed water.

I’m pretty sure it’s green from hundreds of coots pooping in the lake and on the sidewalk.

Ooh, and on the way to Fountain Hills we passed by beautiful Saguaro Lake.

I invited ten of the better players in our park to a play session when no other players would be there.

Yep, I’m a pickleball snob. I wanted a session where we could play fast and slow, hit hard and soft, and use the two most important skills in pickleball: patience and smarts.

Interestingly, as one evolves into a better pickleball player, patience is the most important skill to cultivate.

Patience allows a player to set up a play that will allow her to use her skills to most effectively to win the point.

What was so fun yesterday for all of us is that we didn’t have to hold back at all. Because we were all skilled players, we didn’t restrict ourselves in the ways we do with beginning players.

We could dink (very soft hit just over the net), slam (very hard hit right at your opponent), slice (wicked spin on the ball), and lob (high and soft arc to the back of the court) to our hearts’ content.

Well, we could at least try to sink, slam, slice, and lob. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t.

And the best thing about pickleball is that it’s fun even when it doesn’t work… 🙂

We’ve heard some great stories over the last month, so I need to get the best ones down on paper before I forget…

What’s That?

Mike and Carol were lying in bed. Mike was watching TV while Carol was surfing on her iPad.

Mike tooted.

Carol said nothing.

About five minutes later, Mike tooted again.

Carol asked, “What’s that?” like she didn’t understand what he was trying to say.

Mike said, “I already told you twice, and I’m not going to tell you a third time.”

Get the Bird

Mike, our neighbor at Gold Canyon RV Resort, grew up near Buffalo, New York. Every Thanksgiving, his dad went out hunting for pheasant while his mother prepared and cooked the entire Thanksgiving meal.

Dad would leave early in the morning, hunt most of the day, and return empty handed.

One year, Mike’s mom had to make a last minute run to the store to get a few things. As she was driving home, a pheasant literally dropped onto her car. It apparently had been shot by someone nearby and died. She got out and picked it up.

When Mike’s dad got home, she asked him if he got any birds. He said, “No.”

She said, “Well, it looks like I have to do everything around here.” She calmly handed him the pheasant and said, “The least you can do is clean it.”

We went for a great hike the other day in Usery Mountain Regional Park.

Rich had done the hike earlier with Wally, so he was my guide on the Wind Cave Trail.

It’s a short hike at almost four miles round trip, and it’s got a decent vertical climb of almost a thousand feet.

Rich and Wally hiked it on a Tuesday and there were very few people. Way different population count on a Saturday. I’m guessing we passed at least otwo hundred people.

The scenery is beautiful from both the bottom

and the top of the hike.

There’s an amazing ‘something’ above the Wind Cave.

Turns out it’s an active beehive.

Wicked! It looks like some alien’s brain from Star Trek.

The actual Wind Cave was okay but not as impressive to me as the beehive. I think most people hike to the cave, rest a bit in the shade, and then hike down. One hiker/runner passed us several times as he did the trail three times in succession. Impressive!

There is a municipal shooting range under the PHOENIX sign where dozens of shooters serenaded hikers with volumes of rounds sounding like fireworks.